Murphy – Things were looking up for the Bulldogs on Friday night after their first drive of the third quarter.
Senior quarterback Kellen Rumfelt had just found Payton McCracken for a 27-yard touchdown, and though the extra point was missed, Murphy still led 20-10 with 8:14 to go in the third quarter. After allowing Kage Williams to run for a 51-yard touchdown on the Black Knights’ opening drive, the Bulldogs had outscored Robbinsville 20-3.
But in this year’s Smoky Mountain Conference, unless Hayesville is the opponent, no win is guaranteed until the final buzzer. Murphy would not score again, and Robbinsville celebrated after Cody Cline’s 42-yard field goal as time expired gave the Black Knights a 23-20 win.
“It was a tough game for us,” Bulldogs head coach Joseph Watson said. “We were disappointed obviously in the outcome. Robbinsville did a good job all the way around. Did a better job than we did coaching. Did a better job than we did playing.”
Despite being without star running back Cuttler Adams, Robbinsville was able to control the line of scrimmage and the clock. The Black Knights ran for 304 yards, led by 134 and two touchdowns from Williams. Though Rumfelt threw for season-high yardage, Murphy ran for just 94 yards, its lowest output of the season since running for just 48 against Rabun County.
“They put a lot of people in the box,” Watson said. “They were just squeezing a lot of people in there. If you put a bunch of people in there they can stop it.”
That made the difference late, as the Bulldogs couldn’t sustain drives late to finish off Robbinsville. Williams second touchdown of the night with 1:42 left in the third quarter cut Murphy’s lead to 20-17, and the Black Knights stopped the Bulldogs on fourth down on their next drive. Cline tied the game with a 45-yard field goal with 6:46 left.
The next three drives ended in punts, with Robbinsville taking over at its own 25 with 46 seconds left. The offense drove down the field into Cline’s range, and the senior did the rest.
Murphy will travel to Swain County (4-2, 2-0) this Friday, and Bryson City has not been a happy hunting ground for the Bulldogs. Murphy beat the Maroon Devils 15-14 the last time it played in Swain County, which was David Gentry’s record-setting 413th win. Before that, the Bulldogs hadn’t won at Swain since 2005.
The Maroon Devils are the only undefeated team in the conference, so Murphy needs a win to get back into the conference race and a guaranteed first round home playoff game.
“We know exactly what type of rivalry this is between us and Swain,” Watson said. “There’s not going to be looking past any of that. We’re going to focus on Swain this week and see if we can get better.”